Bill Clinton defends Goldman Sachs

I could somewhat understand Warren Buffet being blinded by his own massive investments in Goldman but Bill Clinton? Oh that’s right, it was the Clinton team – Larry Summers and Robert Rubin – who worked closely with the Republicans to create the Wall Street that ruined the global economy. Yes, they all left and cashed in leaving us little people behind to foot the bill. Cha-ching! People like Bill Clinton, Robert Rubin and Larry Summers working so closely with Wall Street is one of the reasons why so many people around the world are furious. It’s sickening to see how casually they all ignore their part in this.

Bill Clinton may be somewhat correct that we should all “talk about the facts” and see that Wall Street did not do anything illegal. If their behavior turned out to be legal (and that is still up for debate) it was only because enablers like Clinton helped build that system that everyone else is now paying for or will be paying for soon. And yes, Bill, perhaps government spending needs to be addressed. We all know this means higher taxes thanks to mismanagement in the 1990s and beyond.

Bill’s personal balance sheet looks pretty good these days. It sure did take a lucky bounce after leaving the White House and decades of working in government. We should all be so lucky to have the ball bounce so favorably instead of the nasty bounce in the face that we’re all getting due to the crisis. Thanks for nothing, Bill. Now go away and don’t come back.

Former President Bill Clinton says it is “time to lower the rhetoric and talk about the facts,” in reference to the government’s scrutiny of Wall Street.

In an exclusive interview with Maria Bartiromo, Clinton noted that while many financial firms are being questioned by the Securities and Exchange Commission, he does not believe that Goldman Sachs or CEO Lloyd Blankfein did anything illegal, based on what he’s seeing.

Chris in Paris
An American in Paris, France. BA in History & Political Science from Ohio State. Provided consulting services to US software startups, launching new business overseas that have both IPO’d and sold to well-known global software companies. Currently launching a new cloud-based startup. Full bio here.

Why wouldn’t he defend them? Reagan, Bush, and this motherfucker’s administration had more to do with making GS the corporate pirates that they are today than just about anyone. Baby Bush didn’t help but they put in place the structural defects. And Obama? In their pocket too.

Judas Peckerwood

Clinton is a soulless corporatist hack, just like a more recent Democratic president I could name.

Judas Peckerwood

YES!

devis1

Bill did a couple of speaking gigs at their executive getaways. One hand washes the other (in addition to the fees, of course).

Ferdiad

Despite the fact that you know it all too well, you refuse to mad,it that the democratic party even under the all holy leader is nothing more than another form of the moneyed interests in NY and California. They don’t care about you or any issuenbutnwill rather sell out on issue that gets them elected. Wake up, they are a joke. specter in PA?

AnnieR

I’m beginning to wonder if all incoming presidents have to sell their souls to Goldman Sachs after nomination, or some other type of ownership agreement. Just haven’t figured out whether its before or after the oath of office, but I think it makes more sense if its before.

mirth

Who cares, indeed. Sit down and shut the f* up.

Get this: Billy offers himself as lottery prize to pay off Hillary’s debts.

Bill, go sit in the corner and shut up! We’re not interested in what you think about your friends.

JosephP

I think anyone that advises people to calm down about the shenanigans of Henry Paulson and Goldman Sachs either doesn’t understand the situation, or is an executive of Goldman Sachs (or is actually Henry Paulson).

in fact, I think we need to get madder.

Tck

Chris in Paris and, it seems, too many of the commenters, have their panties permanently in a bunch.

I’m getting a bit tired of this GS contreversy. I am no more a fan of banking fat cats than anyone else, but come on now. This is a civil fraud case… where GS and Paulson was meant to have defrauded the counterparties in this CDO.

These counterparties were huge I-Banks themselves!! Are we really to buy into the argument that they were too stupid to analyze the underlying securities? Then GS should sue themselves for fraud, as they lost around $90 million of THEIR OWN money on the CDO.

Chris, you really, really, really need to calm down, lest you give yourself a heart attack soon. At least you’ll be able to go to the doctor in France, I suppose.

NotTimothyGeithner

And keeping and promoting Greenspan flunkies. Obama decided early on he would own the problems of previous Administrations. I would say Obama isn’t pushing to fix the wholes in the system at all. His whole policy was to throw a lot of money around and hope economic growth would save everything and preserve the status quo.

djny10003

Goldman may not have done anything illegal, and that’s the problem; what they did should have been illegal at the time!

I feel like the economic crisis and the Gulf oil spill are natural outcomes of the Reagan gospel, that government is the enemy, and business can be trusted to regulate itself; it can’t.

Naja pallida

This is kind of like arguing which company is responsible for the oil spill in the Gulf. They all are. Just like Bush I, Clinton and Bush II all have some responsibility in the financial meltdown… and Obama is gleefully lapping up that responsibility by not pushing harder to actually fix all the holes his predecessors stabbed into the system.

larryv

Yes, and Greenspan was appointed by HW Bush but Clinton kept him on all eight years and it was Billy and his lot who enabled the likes of Phil Gramm to set in motion the opportunity for the W Bush administration lack of oversight. And you are dead on that Billy needs to sit his ass down and STFU…no one gives rats ass about his opinions on Wall Street…he burned up his domestic good will in the 08 primary .

tbhull

The facts are this clogged artery well educated corrupt fat white trash whore politician of the century is getting paid by Goldman one way or another to defend their greed and corruption.

Bookbinder

It was factually the Bush team’s lack of oversight that fried the banks, especially Greenspan and Bush’s SEC. Buffet’s tax rate issue is no BS, it’s absolutely on.

Bookbinder

Smack dead on, Chris.
And, of course it helps with his fundraising for his global initiative thingy. Besides, Bubba had his chance and he fuc*ed it up one end and down the other. It’s now Obama’s turn and Bubba should slow down, sit down and Shut the F*** Up instead of creating more problems.

larryv

And yes we all know where Billys fat went…note Maria Bartiromo lips….now we know.

larryv

Of course Billy would….it was his adminastration who opened Pandoras box…he was after all the SOB who hired Rueben and Summers and allowed the wall between banks and investment houses to fall for the first time since the Great Depression as his parting gift to the nation in 1999. As for Buffet the oracle of Omaha and Nelsons “daddy” that PR bullshit about his secretary tax rate higher than his and that was not right…just pandering bullshit…well in spite of Buffet is just a nice old grand dad bullshit image is just a robber baron like the rest.

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